“I care for our district and I want to see thriving communities for all peoples – and this means making difficult, thoughtful, future-focused decisions within a constrained council budget. These decisions are never black and white. Good decision-making relies on balancing competing priorities for the benefit of all.” “I have a solid understanding of local government through Community Board work, and through my time on the National Community Boards Executive Committee. We’ve been advocating for community boards to be harnessed and supported to be a more effective tool for better local decision-making.” . . . → Read More: Article: Council or bust for community board stalwart
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The other major issue is the whole funding structure for local government. Which is why I think the Government is taking a very narrow approach here. How on earth the Government thinks it could put a cap on annual rates increases without looking at the wider issue, I don’t know. And that wider issue is the fact that local councils are being asked to do more and more under their own steam, without any extra funding to make it happen. Example: the Government wants more tourists coming here, but what about the infrastructure needed to support that growth? The Government doesn’t pay for that. Local councils do. . . . → Read More: Article: John MacDonald: Capping council rates isn’t a solution “After the local body election the successful Whakatane District Council candidates will have to work together so we’re saying, ‘why wait?’ “Let’s get things started before the election and show Whakatane we can work together despite our differences.” . . . → Read More: Article: Working together despite differences 
So essentially they’ve made central government smaller, dumped a shipload of work onto ratepayer funded councils, and now they’re going to make sure councils spend ratepayers money doing the government work so said government can look good? . . . → Read More: PM Christopher Luxon open to scrapping regional councils amid RMA reform For a prime minister who is often accused of having no ideology, localism is one thing Luxon deeply believes in. “Centralism over localism doesn’t work,” he told parliament last year. He described centralisation as “a robbery of power and control from local communities.” He reiterated it in his impressively boring speech at Waitangi this year: “We, like you, believe in localism and devolution, not centralisation and control.” Localism is a belief that unites all three parties in the coalition. It’s arguably the biggest point of difference between this government and the previous Labour government, which made moves to centralise health, polytechnics, water and the public service. . . . → Read More: Christopher Luxon loves localism, until locals have the wrong opinions Many of the managerial techniques that have arrived in the public sector over the austerity years – such as results-based pay, corporate contracting, performance management or evaluation culture – have their origins in a budgetary revolution that took place in the 1960s at the US Department of Defence. In the early 1960s, Defence Secretary Robert McNamara was frustrated with being nominally in charge of budgeting but having to mediate between the seemingly arbitrary demands of military leaders for more tanks, submarines or missiles. In response, he called on the RAND Corporation, a US think tank and consultancy, to remake the Defence Department’s budgetary process to give the secretary greater capacity to plan. . . . → Read More: Despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever. How can we make sense of this? Simon Watts at the Future Proofing New Zealand forum, hosted by The Post and Infrastructure NZ, in Wellington on Wednesday. Source 19 June 2025 PDF Local Government Minister Simon Watts is “working at pace” on a rates cap model, revealing to the The Post/Infrastructure NZ Local Government Forum there are concerns about the . . . → Read More: Local Govt Minister ‘working at pace’ on rates cap model Government to give itself power to override councils on housing in RMA changes Chris Bishop Source June 18, 2025 PDF The government will take back power from local councils if their decisions are going to negatively impact economic growth, development or employment. In a speech to business leaders at the Wellington Chamber of . . . → Read More: Wellington Takes Big Brother Approach To ‘Localism’ Local Government New Zealand recently estimated an extra $11 billion is needed over the next seven years to meet unexpected cost increases. The credit rating agency S&P Global has downgraded 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations, and given negative outlooks to three more councils. The auditor-general reported in February that inflation has driven up the costs of construction, insurance and debt servicing. This is putting pressure on operational expenses and capital improvements at the same time as demand for council services is increasing. . . . → Read More: Article: Rates will never be enough – councils need the power to raise money in other ways 
Eroding the power of Te Tiriti o Waitangi — whether explicitly or implicitly through laws such as the Regulatory Standards Bill — has serious strategic, legal, and economic consequences for Aotearoa New Zealand’s trade agreements and exposure to ISDS cases. Here’s how and why: . . . → Read More: Opinion: Regulatory Standards Bill – what you need to know. Dr Mawera Karetai |
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